Touch My Tears

Anthology recounts Choctaw
Removal stories

By LARISSA COPELAND

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Tears of sadness.

Tears of joy.

A new book, Touch My
Tears: Tales from the Trail of Tears, is an anthology of
fictional and historic stories written by Choctaw storytellers and
edited by Choctaw author Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer. It tells of the
heartbreaking, yet hopeful stories of Choctaws on their removal on
the Trail of Tears.

Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer and mother
Lynda Kay Sawyer.

"I chose the Removal
because it's such a traumatic experience, a traumatic event, for
the Choctaw history but there was also hope," says Sawyer, of
Canton, Texas. "There are tons of misconceptions [about the Trail
of Tears.] We just wanted to wrap all that up into stories and
really emotionally involve readers who aren't familiar with the
history. We want people involved emotionally with the stories of
that time period so they can understand and take away the hope, the
resilience and the faith of the Choctaw people."

For Sawyer, the path
leading to publication was long, yet rewarding. It began in 2012
when she was accepted into the Artist Leadership Program with the
Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.

As part of the program,
Sawyer traveled to Washington D.C. in late 2012 to research the
Trail of Tears as well as attend artist training. In March 2013 she
conducted a writing workshop in Durant for Choctaw authors as part
of the program, which was met with a great response. It was a
historical fiction writing workshop, Preserving Choctaw Removal
Stories.

"I was overwhelmed by the
response from the Choctaw authors," she says, stating that more
than 20 writers took part.

Those attending the
workshop were invited to be a part of the anthology by submitting
their own Trail of Tears stories for publication. Seven of the 20
authors accepted the offer and their stories were included in the
book.

Sawyer and the participants of the
writing workshop she held in Durant in March 2013.

In addition to those who
submitted their stories, Sawyer also included a story she
personally had written, as well as obtained reprint right for
the story Rising Fawn and the Fire Mystery, written by Marilou
Awiakta (Cherokee) and illustrated by Beverly Bringle(Choctaw).

Also contributing was the
winner of last year's Biskinik short story contest, Benjamin
Zeller. "We were at the Five Tribes Storytelling Conference and
when they mentioned what he had written was a Trail of Tears story
a couple of other writers around me started nudging me.

"I told [Zeller] we were
almost finished with this project but that I still had time to slip
in his story if he was interested and he said yes. We were all very
excited about that. So all together we have 10 stories from 10
different Choctaw authors and illustrators.

"I used as many Choctaws
as possible," says Sawyer.

Along with the stories,
Sawyer also involved Choctaws in other aspects of the book's
creation. "The primary illustrator, Leslie Widener, and my brother,
Jon Sawyer, who modeled for the front cover" are both Choctaws,
says Sawyer. Also Julie Cantrell, who is Choctaw and a New York
Times best selling author, wrote the foreword on the book.

"My whole purpose in
this, and in all of my writing, is preserving history," explains
Sawyer. "I have a desire to preserve it through fiction because
it's in archives online and in Washington and in anthropological
departments and all these things but it's not really accessible to
the general public.

"What I want is to get
these stories out in an entertaining form but in a way that keeps
the real history, not the stereotypical history that we've heard
that come from history books read by kids and seen in Hollywood
movies.

"I want real stories but
I do fictionalize to enhance the real stories while staying
culturally and historically accurate but in a way that the general
public enjoys reading them. That's one of the ways that I feel we
can use to preserve our history, our legacy and our culture."

Sawyer says she recently
sent the authors their copies and told them, with great thanks,
"that their part is now finished and now I'll put it in as many
readers' hands as I can. That's the goal for me."

In addition to the
authors, Sawyer is grateful for the assistance of the Choctaw
Nation, which she says, "was a huge supporter from the start."

She goes on to say Dr.
Ian Thompson, director of the Choctaw Nation Historic Preservation
Department, was incredibly instrumental in her research. "He was a
great asset," she says. "We just bombarded him with questions. He
was amazing."

Also, Sawyer would like
to acknowledge Assistant Chief Gary Batton for his support and
letter of recommendation to the NMAI, as well as Ryan Spring from
Historic Preservation, Lillie Roberts from the School of Choctaw
Language, and Choctaw artist and history aficionado Presley
Byington for their involvement with checking for cultural and
historical accuracy.

"I really love all the
work that the authors put into this. It wouldn't have happened
without them and without the support of those in the Choctaw
Nation."

Sawyer also gives much
credit to her mother, Lynda Kay Sawyer, for her vital role in the
book project. "It would have never left the ground and be what it
is without [her] support and wisdom," she says. "She encouraged me
to apply for the NMAI program, went to [Washington] D.C. with me to
help research the Removal, carried the heavy load in preparing for
and operating the writing workshop, and helped tremendously with
editing and researching for the book itself. She also took the
stunning front cover photo of my brother."

Sawyer will be donating a
portion of all the sales of the book to the Choctaw Nation
scholarship fund. "Donating to the scholarship fund is just
something I wanted to do as a way to give back. We are also
donating 20 copies to educational facilities."

Touch My Tears: Tales
from the Trail of Tears is availabe online from major
retailers including www.Amazon.com and www.BarnesandNoble.com,
among others, in both print and eBook formats. Signed copies of the
book are also now available from the Choctaw Store, both online at
www.choctawstore.com, and
in the store at the Choctaw Travel Information Center, located just
south of Colbert on Highway 69/75.

Upcoming book signings by
Sawyer will be at the Artist Bazaar at the Choctaw Nation
headquarters in Durant on May 5, and the Trail of Tears
Commemorative Walk at Wheelock on May 17.

For more information on
Touch My Tears: Tales from the Trail of Tears or to follow the
work of Sawyer, visit her website at www.sarahelisabethwrites.com.

This article and others came from the Choctaw Nation
Biskinik. To see more history please refer to the following
sites.